Food Preservation, Nutrition, Medicine

Total Questions: 33

11. Which of the following is a common refrigerant used in the domestic refrigerator? [Jharkhand P.C.S. (Pre) 2013]

Correct Answer: (c) Freon
Solution:Freon is a common refrigerant used in domestic refrigerators. It is the name of a registered patent for a commercial refrigerant manufactured by Dupont. Freon is mildly toxic but stable halocarbon.

However, due to its harmful effects on the ozone layer, it has been phased out and replaced by other refrigerants like HFC-134a (a hydrofluorocarbon) and more environmentally friendly options like R-600a (isobutane) in modern refrigerators. Despite the specific chemical changing, the term "Freon" is still sometimes used generically.

12. 'Triclosan', considered harmful when exposed to high levels for a long time, is most likely present in which of the following? [I.A.S. (Pre) 2021]

Correct Answer: (d) Toiletries
Solution:Primary Use: Triclosan is an antibacterial agent added to a wide range of consumer products, most notably toiletries like antibacterial soaps, body washes, and toothpastes.
Wider Application: It has also been used in other items such as clothing, kitchenware, and furniture to impart antibacterial properties.

Regulatory Action: The U.S. FDA has taken significant action due to a lack of evidence proving its long-term safety for daily use. This led to a ban on its use in over-the-counter consumer wash products (soaps, body washes) in 2016.

13. Charcoal which is used in decolouring raw sugar is: [U.P.P.C.S. (Pre) 1998]

Correct Answer: (c) Animal charcoal
Solution:

Animal charcoal, also known as bone charcoal, is primarily used for filtration and decolourization. Bone charcoal is often used in sugar refining as a decolourizing and de-ashing agent.

14. The main component of honey is: [U.P.P.C.S. (Pre) 2002, I.A.S. (Pre) 1997]

Correct Answer: (d) Fructose
Solution:

The main components of honey are fructose (38.2%), glucose (31.3%), sucrose (1.3%), maltose (7.1%), and water (17.2%). Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a simple ketonic monosaccharide found in many plants.

15. The sweetest sugar among the following is: [66th B.P.S.C. (Pre) 2020]

Correct Answer: (a) Fructose
Solution:

Fructose is the sweetest sugar among all natural sugars. Sugars are saccharides which have varying degrees of sweetness on a relative scale as illustrated in the following table:

Relative Sweetness Scale (Sucrose = 100)
SweetnessCompound
100Sucrose
140-170Fructose
70-80Glucose
30-50Maltose
35-50Galactose
20Lactose

16. Given below are two statements, one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other as Reason (R): [U.P. P.C.S. (Pre) 2020]

  • Assertion (A): Invert sugar is more sweet than sucrose.
  • Reason (R): Invert sugar is obtained by the hydrolysis of sucrose.

Select the correct answer:

Correct Answer: (b) Both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
Solution:

Invert sugar is made by splitting disaccharide sucrose into its two components monosaccharides fructose and glucose (dextrose). Invert sugar is sweeter than sucrose due to free fructose crystals, which are the sweetest natural sugar. Hence, both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).

17. Match Column I with Column II and choose the correct answer: [R.A.S./R.T.S. (Pre) 2018]

Match Column I with Column II and choose the correct answer:

Column IColumn II
A. Grape Sugar(iv) Glucose
B. Fruit Sugar(i) Fructose
C. Milk Sugar(v) Lactose
D. Table Sugar(ii) Sucrose
E. Stevia(iii) Natural Sweetener

Code:

 

Code

A

B

C

D

E

(a)

(i) 

(iv) 

(v)

(ii)

(iii)

(b)

(ii) 

(iii)

(v) 

(i) 

(iv)

(c)

(iv) 

(i) 

(v)

(ii)

(iii)

(d)

(i) 

(v)

(iv)

(iii)

(ii)

Correct Answer: (c)
Solution:Grape Sugar - Glucose

Fruit Sugar - Fructose

Table Sugar - Sucrose

Stevia      - Natural Sweetness

Milk Sugar  - Lactose

18. Which of the following pairs is/are correctly matched? [U.P. R.O./A.R.O. (Pre) 2021]

1. Beet              -      Sugar

2. Honey          -       Glucose and Fructose

3. Cotton         -Cellulose

4. Milk             -Lactose

Select the correct answer using the code given below: Code

Correct Answer: (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Solution:All of the given pairs are correctly matched. Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.

19. Aspartame is an artificial sweetener sold in the market. It consists of amino acids and provides calories like other amino acids. Yet, it is used as a low-calorie sweetening agent in food items. What is the basis of this use? [I.A.S. (Pre) 2011]

Correct Answer: (d) Aspartame is several times sweeter than table sugar, hence food items made with small quantities of aspartame yield fewer calories on oxidation.
Solution:

Aspartame is an artificial, non-saccharide sweetener used as a sugar substitute in some foods and beverages. Aspartame is approximately 200 times sweeter than sucrose (table sugar). Due to this property, even though aspartame produces four kilocalories of energy per gram when metabolized, the quantity of aspartame needed to produce a sweet taste is so small that its calorie contribution is negligible.

20. What is the basic of the most useful classification of medications in medical chemistry? [69th B.P.S.C. (Pre) 2023]

Correct Answer: (b) Molecular targets
Solution:

Drugs usually interact with biomolecules such as carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. These are called target molecules or drug targets. Drugs possessing some common structural features may have the same mechanism of action on targets. The classification based on molecular targets is the most useful classification in medical chemistry.